By Edward Chaykovsky
A few days ago, Matchroom Sport chairman Barry Hearn was very eager about the possibility of having IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (17-0, 17KOs) make the second defense of his world title in November against former WBC champion Bermane Stiverne (25-2-1, 21KOs), who still stands as the only fighter to go the full distance with current WBC king Deontay Wilder (36-0, 35KOs).
Last month Joshua made the first defense of the belt with a seven round TKO of previously undefeated Dominic Breazeale. The hard puncher captured the title in April with a two round blowout of Charles Martin.
The mandatory challenger is Joseph Parker, who fights later this month and then again in September. Hearn wants Joshua to have one more fight before moving to the mandatory defense with Parker in early 2017.
Joshua likes the idea as well, and is very willing to fight Stiverne at any time. Everyone has questions regarding Joshua's stamina and whether or not he could last an entire twelve round distance with his power intact. Stiverne has proven himself to be very durable and may be the man to answer those questions. Joshua himself would like to find out as well and wants to test his own abilities against someone like Stiverne.
"Joseph Parker is skillful and he'll be coming in undefeated," Joshua told Sky Sports News HQ. "Stiverne is skillful and he's already been at the top and he's only had one loss to the world champion now (Deontay Wilder) and he's durable. People want to see me go the distance, to see if I've got the stamina, so I just think he fits that criteria."
